Glue-press.



No. 762,549. PATENTED JUNE 14, 1904.

A. S. NICHOLS. GLUE PRESS.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 1, 1903. N0 MODEL. I

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

J y z Patented June 14, 190 1.

PATENT OFFICE.

AARON S. NICHOLS, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

GLUE-PRESS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 762,549, dated June 14,1904.

Application filed April 1, 1903. Serial No. 150,556. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, AARON S. NICHOLS, a citizen of the United States,residing in Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts,have invented a new and useful Improvement in Glue-Presses, of which thefollowing is a specification.

In glue-presses used for gluing up wood stock it is customary to placelarge numbers of the pieces of the stock between heavy plates and then,after subjecting them to pressure and while the pressure is on, tosecure the plates together by means of tie-rods or the like, the platesand rods together forming retainers adapted to continue the pressureupon the stock after its removal from the press. The plates haveheretofore generally been made of wood; but they are necessarily madevery strong, and I have made them of metal because the requisitestrength can be obtained in a less thickness of metal than of the wood.The metal plates are, however, somewhat objectionable because of theirweight and the consequent difficulty in lifting them to place in thepress and removing them therefrom. The wood plates of large presses arealso heavy and difficult to position, and my endeavor in this inventionhas been to provide means whereby the plates, whether of wood or metal,may be conveniently and easily positioned and whereby the upper platemay be supported above the stock in readiness to be lowered while thestock is being placed in position.

My improvement consists in the novel combinations of parts and devicesand the novel construction of parts and devices herein set forth.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification,Figure 1 is a front, and Fig. 2 a side, elevation of a glue-press fittedwith my improvement. Fig. 3 is a vertical section of the cylinder forlifting the top plate. Fig. 4 is a vertical section, and Fig. 5 is abottom plan, of the valve controlling the lifting-cylinder. Fig. 6 is avertical section of the valve at right angles to Fig. 1. Fig. 7 is apartial plan of the top plate, and Fig. 8 is a section thereof on theline 8 8 of Fig. 7.

In said drawings, 10 represents the bed of the glue-press; 11, thehydraulic cylinder having its piston connected to the bed and liftingit, and 12 the stationary top frame supported upon uprights 13 at thecorners. The upper plate is shown at 14, and the lower one at 15, thelatter resting upon the bed, and 16 16 are the tie-rods by which theplates are secured together after the stock has been compressed andwhereby the pressure caused by the press is continued withoutintermission so long after the removal of the stock from the press asmay be necessary to secure perfect union of the glued pieces.

17 is the operating-handle of the valve controlling the power-cylinder11, such valve being located in the casing 18 and communicating with thepower-cylinder by the pipe 19. The supply-pipe is shown at 20 and thedischarge at 21.

At 22 is a small-diameter hydraulic cylinder, the piston-stem 23 whereofis connected by a chain 24:, passing over pulleys 25 and 26 at the topof the press, to the top plate, to which it is secured by a detachablefastening. This cylinder is controlled by a valve 27 in casing 28,receiving its water-supply from pipe 20 by branch 29 and discharging bybranch 30. The valve communicates with cylinder 22 by pipes 31 and 32,one opening into the cylinder above the piston 33 and the other belowthe piston. The stem 34: of the valve 27 is provided with a handle 35,whereby the valve may be turned in order to establish or break thecommunication between the supply-pipe 29 and the pipe 32 when the piston33 is to be raised to lower the plate and between the pipe 29 and thepipe 31 when the piston is to be lowered to lift the plate. The valve inanother position cuts off the water from pipes and 31. The valve has twovertical openings 36 extending through it to the chamber 37, into whichthe inlet-pipe 29 opens, and

the openings 36 are adapted to be brought into register with the pipes31 and 32. It

also has a U-shaped passage, one limb, 38, of which is located at itsaxis and is always in communication with the discharge-pipe 30 and theother limb, 39, of which is so located that it can be brought over oneor the other of the pipes 31 and 32, according to the result desired.

A desirable construction of the fastening by which the chain is securedto the top plate is shown at Figs. 7 and 8. It consists in providing inthe top surface of the plate a recess 40, the mouth of which iscontracted upon two opposite sides, so that it will admit aninverted-T-shaped hanger 41 and yet permit the hanger to be turned afterit is inserted in the recess, so as to bring its arms under thecontracted sides of the opening. A coiled spring 42 is desirably locatedin the recess and bears upward on the head of the hanger and resists anytendency the hanger may have to turn after it has been positioned in thelocking position.

The cylinder 22 is desirably made long in order that its piston may havea long stroke. In practice the two plates may be lifted together by theapparatus described if they are joined by a portion of the tie-rods, andafter being positioned in the press the upper plate may be lifted ashigh as necessary to permit the insertion of the stock and maintained atthat height as long as necessary. The apparatus may also be used inremoving theplates, with their contained stock, from the press, as alarge amount of slack can be created in the chain and the piston ofcylinder 22 is under perfect control while it is supporting them.

1 claim 1. The glue-press, wherein are combined a hydraulic cylinder forcreating the pressure, retainer-plates for retaining the pressure afterremoval from the press, hydraulic mechanism for supporting the upperplate while the stock is being positioned, and a source of hydraulicpower supplying both the hydraulic cylinder and the plate-supportingmechanism.

2. The combination with a glue-press, of upper and lowerretainer-plates, both removable from the press, hydraulic means forlifting and supporting the upper plate while positioning the stock, andadetachable connection between the upper plate and said lifting means.

3. The combination with a glue-press, of upper and lowerretainer-plates, both removable from the press, hydraulic means forlifting and supporting the upper plate while positioning the stock, aflexible connection between the upper plate and said lifting means, andmeans for attaching the connection to the center of the plate.

4:. The combination with a glue-press and the upper retainer-plate, ofmeans for lifting and supporting said plate in the raised position, anda connection between said plate and the source of power, .suchconnection being detachably secured to the plate by means of a T-shapedhanger entered within a recess in the plate having undercut sides.

5. The combination with a glue-press and the upper retainer-plate, ofmeans for lifting and supporting said plate in its raised position, anda connection between the plate and the source of power, such connectionbeing detachably secured to the plate by means of a T-shaped hangerentered within a recess in the plate having undercut sides, and heldagainst turning therein by a spring.

6. The combination in a glue-press, of removable retainer-plates, oneabove and one below the stock, clamping devices for retaining thepressure upon the stock, a power device acting to lift the upper plate,to support it in a raised position while the stock is being positioned,to lower it onto the stock, and to lift both the plates and the stockafter the press has acted and the clampshave been secured, and aconnection between said power device and said upper plate.

AARON S. NICHOLS.

Witnesses:

REUBEN L. ROBERTS, F. A. CoLLINs.

